Extra player
by Reedie
Summary: A new planet means strange aliens and bad situations. Like Malcolm, Trip and Hoshi are about to find out. Updated Chapter 5.
1. Ridiculous names

A/N: Just something that came from nowhere. I only have a general idea where I want this to go. XD Hope you enjoy and tell me if I should continue!

_Extra player_

The air was heavy, telling them there was a storm on the way. But for now the sun was beating down upon the streets and the people who made their way like little ants in a giant colony. Shadow was hard to find and if there was a spot, it would already be taken by other people or animals that lazily stared at you when you passed by.

The Shuttle, or 'Psonik' as the natives called it, arrived from the east and glided to the station. It was attached to a long line of some kind of electricity, making sure the shuttle did not leave the pad on which they all traveled. On the last few meters the shuttle shook a bit, but then disappeared from view.

Malcolm held one eye on the cat-like creature that was sleeping next to the stall at which he was buying various .....he didn't know what they were exactly but T'pol had requested it. The man behind the stall wrote down the stuff he had purchased before giving him the bag. The lieutenant fumbled with the 'money' for a moment, but finally found the right amount of little silver marbles. He handed it over to the shopkeeper, who thanked him friendly.

He turned to leave, but found his way was blocked by a tiny girl with long blue locks of hair. The girl looked up at him, cradled in her arms were some big red grape-like fruits and on her left arm hung a basket. The basket was covered with a small blanket, but underneath it Malcolm could see something moving. He really didn't want to know what was under there.

As they stood there staring at each other, the armory officer soon understood that the girl wanted him to buy something from her. He searched his pocket for some money, when he opened his hand to reveal it all he was surprised that she carefully took only two marbles from him rather than taking it all and run. He now only hoped it was the grapes he was buying, not whatever was in that basket.

To his relief the girl smiled and handed him one of the grapes. She nodded before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Malcolm stared at the fruit in his hand for a moment before putting it in the bag with the rest of the things he didn't have a clue off what they were. He swung the bag on his back and suddenly felt as if someone was looking at him. He looked back to the stall again and saw that the cat creature had opened one of his big oval green eyes and it was fixed on him. They looked at each other for a moment and Malcolm felt rather uneasy. He felt his hairs rise on the back of his neck and despite the sun he shivered. He looked the other way and quickly left the stall and crossed the market, walking towards the east station. He would meet the others there in about half an hour. Maybe he could get something to eat while he waited.

Malcolm stared at the entrance of the bar. The bar was located in the station and it was the rendezvous point with the others. He stepped inside and immediately noticed the change of smells. The air was dry and filled with some sort smoke, people were laughing and talking. He walked over to the bar and sat down in one of the odd looking chairs. The barman, a big guy with 4 arms, turned towards him and asked him what he wanted to have. Malcolm looked over to the menu and choose one of the drinks that looked the least dangerous.

"One...Popondel?" Malcolm asked hesitantly, and the alien laughed hard.

"A Popendil?" The man asked and Malcolm nodded.

"Coming right up." The barman said and turned to the glasses behind him, soon a green looking liquid in a very big glass was put before Malcolm. The lieutenant leaned to his right to look past the glass. He grabbed in his pocket for his money but the alien stopped him.

"Oh no no no, this one is on the house!" He said and laughed again before turning to other costumers, happily singing a tune of some sort of song which was starting to annoy the Armory officer. He stared at the glass for a long time, deciding if he should drink it or not, before he noticed the sniffing from his right side. Turning, he saw another alien sitting next to him, green this time with small eyes but a very big nose. The man, Malcolm assumed it was a male, sniffed in the air until he finally turned to the small lieutenant and his bag.

"Is that Lubbel I smell?" He asked, his voice was high pitched and it almost hurt Malcolm's ears.

"Lubbel?" '_What was it with this planet and its ridiculous names?' _

"Ah, surely you've heard of the fruit! It's highly appreciated in this part of the land. Unless you're not from this part of course...yes, yes! That must be it! That's why you look so strange eh?" The alien squeaked and the Lieutenant suddenly thought about the grape-like fruit he bought from the little girl. He took his bag and pulled out the fruit and placed it on the table.

"Ah, yes, yes! That's a Lubbel all right!" The alien squeaked again, his eyes widened a bit as he looked at it.

"So, uh, what is so special about it?" Malcolm asked, eyeing the fruit suspiciously.

"Hmm, well the of course the taste is delicious, but when you hold it, it takes a different color."

"It changes color?" He lieutenant sounded surprised, he was no scientist but he knew for sure that wasn't normal for a fruit.

"Oh yes! It depends in what mood you are when you hold it."

"Well why didn't it change colors when I held it?"

"It takes time, of course! One or two minutes I think?"

Just on that moment, the Armory officer heard his name called from the other side of the bar. Looking back he saw Hoshi and Trip waving to him from the entrance. He took the 'Lubbel' from the table, looked at it for a moment and then stuffed it in the bag again.

"Ehm, thank you but I have to go now." He said to the alien.

"No problem, goodbye Malcolm Reed!"

The lieutenant nodded and walked towards the entrance before he frowned and looked back again. How did he know what his name was? _'...He heard it when Hoshi called me of course! But...that was only my first name..maybe it slipped into the conversation and I forgot?'_ Shaking off the silly thought, he quickly left the bar to join his friends.


	2. Delayed

The three of them walked across the big hall, which buzzed with activity, towards the timetable of the shuttles which was located at the northern part of the East station. The hall had numerous shops and bars. The lights above where green and cast a weird, but not unpleasant glow on the people below. Big screens flashed with alien symbols and the aliens appeared to try and buy as much stuff as possible.

After Malcolm had joined his friends, Trip and Hoshi had begun reporting everything that had happened to them on the planet. Maybe a year or 3 earlier Malcolm would have found it very annoying, but now he found himself laughing with them as they told him about their encounter with some of the other aliens on the planet.

"So I'm already inside, but suddenly I notice Trip's not with me. I turn around, and there's this big fat alien figure standing over Trip by the entrance." Hoshi said and Trip laughed. He continued;

"Asking me what sex ah was!"

"Trip, feeling more than slightly insulted, immediately tells the woman that he is, of course, male. And asks her what sex she might be!" Hoshi giggled and Malcolm grinned, waiting for them to continue. He could just picture the scene.

"She gets angry, ah thought she was goin' to kill me right there and then." Trip imitated the woman's look for more effect. "Hoshi comes up to us and looks at the woman before asking what the problem is."

"And she tells us something about men not being allowed in the building. Really, aliens! Sometimes I can't believe them!" Hoshi said and winked at Malcolm.

"So Hoshi stares at her, and ah'm about the protest when she tells to the alien woman ah'm her personal slave, and that her boss would get very angry if she knew that her visit to her was delayed by somethin' as stupid as this!" Trip laughed and Malcolm stared at Hoshi with an open mouth.

"You told her what?"

Hoshi shrugged and smiled at him.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" She said and Trip wiped the tears from his eyes while continuing laughing.

"So you got in?" Malcolm asked, not believing them. They both nodded and Trip grinned.

"Got everything the Cap'n asked for, too." He added. Malcolm smiled, knowing what Trip meant. He had made some errants for others, too.

"Ah, here we are." Hoshi said and nodded towards the timetables. There was a group of aliens surrounding them, who looked all a bit displeased and Malcolm briefly wondered what was wrong. Hoshi turned towards the display console next to the wall with all kinds of cards and tickets, which he thought were some kind of souvenirs. He and trip let Hoshi puzzle with the alien symbols for a while. Her smile disappeared a few seconds later and she frowned.

"What is it?" Malcolm asked, as he observer her expression. And the general mood of the other aliens, in this case.

"It seems that our shuttle is delayed." Hoshi said. Normally they would have used their own shuttlepods, but they were not allowed in Tanedian airspace. They had to use the local shuttles to get to the station in orbit, and from there get to Enterprise. The captain had tried to talk his way around it, because his officers had loudly complained. But, the alien ambassador hadn't listened to him. So here they were.

"Delayed? How come?" Trip asked, frowning also.

"No idea, it's on here. But we're delayed for at least 3 hours." Hoshi answered and bit her lower lip.

"3 hours?!" Malcolm asked. He shook his head. "Enterprise is waiting for us."

"Ah'll contact them, Ah don't think the cap'n wanted to leave for the next 2 days." Trip said and flipped open his communicator.

"Tucker to En'erprise." He said and waited for a response. When none came, he frowned.

"En'erprise, please respond.." He tried again, but still there was no answer. He looked over to Malcolm, who's expression darkened, and to Hoshi, who's looked slightly nervous.

"Maybe there's too much interference?" Hoshi suggested. "It's a big city..."

"It worked perfectly before. And it should, because there's not that much communication, and no communication on our frequency." Malcolm said. Their eyes turned to Trip, who looked a bit uneasy.

"It's probably nothin'...Maybe a malfunction on Enterprise or somethin'. They'll contact us when it's fixed." He said. Malcolm didn't look convinced, but Hoshi agreed.

"Anyway, no use in us worrying about it here when we can do nothin'. We could use the time to explore some of the city without goin' shoppin' for the Cap'n!" Trip said and grinned.

"Or T'pol.." Malcolm mumbled.

"Or T'pol." Trip laughed. "Hey, I saw a building that looked like a movie theater or somethin' like that. Maybe we could check out what kind of films they have here?" He said, a silly grin plastered to his face. Malcolm looked like he was about to disagree, before Trip stopped him.

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"

Maybe fun wasn't the right word for what was waiting for them.


	3. Eyes

AN: Thanks for reviewing, here's the next chapter. I've know exactly where I want this to go, so finally I have a whole story in my head. Now all I have to do is work it out. Enjoy and tell me what you think!

Chapter 3: Eyes.

Trip and Hoshi seemed entirely unconcerned about the whole ordeal. They walked passed several shop, various smells came from them, mingling and making together an odor that made Malcolm feel slightly sick. He didn't feel anything like how they seemed seemed to be feeling. Something about the whole situation felt wrong. Maybe it was just his good ol' paranoia, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, it damn well made him incredibly nervous.

A slight headache troubled his train of thoughts, however, and he felt like he was being watched again. But not like the first time with the cat-like creature. No it felt like somebody was looking directly through him. He turned to look over his shoulder as Hoshi babbled on about all the souvenirs she had bought. Through the masses of people, his eyes were caught by a flash of green. He was surprised to see the same alien he had met in the bar. He seemed to muttering himself. Or was he holding something in his hand? The alien looked up and stared directly at him. When he saw Malcolm staring, he jumped a little and did a step back. He looked around, before quickly vanishing behind one of the stalls. Malcolm squinted his eyes.

"Malcolm!" Trip's voice pulled him back towards his friends' conversation. Hoshi giggled when he turned back startled.

"Finally! We thought your brain had died. Ya were far away there for a second." Trip commented and smirked. Malcolm looked at him questioningly. "I asked if you still had some extra money left." He pointed towards a building on the other side of the hall. A large light-board was hanging above it, lit up by red lights. The alien words flashed across it and a large picture was painted on the wall. Anyone could see what kind of building it was.

Malcolm raised his eyebrows. "I thought you were joking when you were talking about a movie theater." He said and his eyes shifted back towards the chief engineer. "You were really planning on going in there?"

"Sure! It'll be fun....It'll be a 'new experience'!" He added when he saw the skeptical look on the Lieutenant's face. "Besides, they have food in there. And ah don't know about you, but ah'm gettin' mighty hungry."

Though Malcolm wanted to protest, he was getting quite hungry himself. _Agree__ but not acknowledge defeat. That might do it._

"I have some extra money." He said, and quickly added; "I, for one, don't spend all of it on ridiculous toys, or souvenirs that will just be thrown away." Hoshi's face reddened a bit, but Malcolm hadn't meant her. He was looking at Trip. The chief engineer had spend half of his money on weird alien technical stuff, or 'toys' as Hoshi had referred to it. Trip loved to take a look at all of them when he was back on Enteprise. Which meant, of course, take all of it apart one by one.

_Which__ really isn't such a bad thing._ Malcolm thought. _It__ will keep him busy for a few days, which means I won't get dragged along to Movienight again. _

Trip, however, didn't seem to mind the 'attack' on his hobbies from the armory officer. It just meant that Malcolm was to stubborn to acknowledge his defeat. He smirked. _Armory__ officers. You just got to know how to handle them_.

"That's the spirit, Mal!" He frowned while they made there way towards the building. "Though Ah think Ah'll let Hoshi do the translating of the menu's. Wouldn't want to get somethin' alive and still squirmin' on my plate."

Hoshi raised her eyebrows. "You sure commander? What about that 'New Experience' you were talking about?" She said, winking at Malcolm.

"'Broaden you horizons.' Sure! But how compelling that sounds, there are limits, ya know." Trip answered, his face twisting a little when he thought of eating such a 'dish'.

"Of course there are. Of course." Hoshi replied when they entered the building.

The alien cursed when the three Starfleet officers disappeared from view. With so many people inside he would probably never get the proper 'view' of one of them. But from what he had seen, they seemed to be very promising. Maybe they were the ones he was looking for. He swiftly moved towards the building.

Hoshi had quickly translated all of the movie names for them. Between names like 'The life of a Katanga.', 'Living on a planet like this.' and 'Boom! They blew us up.' they had quickly chosen a name that didn't sound so horribly boring or bad. Though Trip had seemed to be looking forward on seeing alien movies for a change, he was also beginning to have his doubts. They had agreed to eat after the movie, which seemed only to last for about 40 minutes. They had noticed that the films would all be played in the same room, though you would only pay for the right 'sound-chip'. The chip would be placed into the headphones that were waiting for them in the room. This way none of the visitors would be troubled by the other movies' sounds.

"Wait a second." Malcolm said after they had purchased their sound-chips. Hoshi looked up when she had just wanted to go down the stairs into the room. "Er...I'm going to get us some snacks." He quickly said when she looked at him questioningly, and pointed towards the bar. Hoshi nodded. "That would be nice. Try not to get anything poisonous, though." She said and grinned, before following Trip into the room. Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief. He cast a look at the bar before heading the other way.

The alien waited outside the building for a while, trying to guess the time the three would take to pay for a movie. He looked through the glass, pretending to be interested in the movies. The woman and the blond man were now sitting in the movie room that he could just see through the glass. The black haired man, however, seemed to have disappeared. After a few more moments of waiting, he inhaled deeply and his eyes darted towards the entrance. He would have to take the gamble..He quickly stepped inside.

Malcolm grabbed the alien by his shirt when this one stepped inside. He quickly pushed the shocked man outside again, and around the corner. Hidden by the shadows and thus unnoticed by anyone who passed by, he glared at the alien.

"What the _hell_ do you want from us?" He hissed. Throughout his friends' conversation he had kept an eye on the alien. He had noticed him following them, creeping behind them, giving them looks and never letting them go from his sight.

The alien first seemed to shocked to say something, but he quickly recovered. "You are more observant than I expected, Malcolm Reed." He squeaked, not intimidated by the lieutenant's behavior. "That doesn't happen often. I rarely underestimate people."

"Well I bet I'm also a whole lot more dangerous than you thought I was. So you better speak up!" Malcolm hissed again, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the alien's reaction, though not showing it.

The alien laughed, a nasty little laugh that gave the Englishman the creeps. "I do hope so, Lieutenant. Or else you'll rather be a disappointment." He said and grinned, his tooth were yellowish. "But I thank you for saving me a whole lot of trouble." And with that he grabbed Malcolm's wrist. The alien possessed a _lot_ more strength than he expected, and that's saying a lot. He let go as he felt that the alien might break his arm in two. The man fixed his gaze on him and stared at unblinking. For a moment he seemed to look very concentrated, and then pain exploded behind Malcolm's eyes. Even before he had the chance to cry out in pain, darkness engulfed him.

Please review! :)


	4. What to do

**AN: Thanks everyone who read and reviewed the other chapters! :D I love you! KaliedescopeCat: That could be true. I started this story a while ago, but never finished it.**

Chapter 4: What to do.

"Okay..." There was a small pause. The rope creaked."Okay...This is definitely new."

The British armory officer hung about 20 feet above the ground. Up side down. This was indeed, new. The walls were gray, though some parts of it showed rust. He couldn't see the ceiling. There was a grunt from his companion who hung behind him.

"Will ya keep your voice down... Ah've got a killer headache." He mumbled.

Malcolm, who had actually just woken up a second earlier, was very surprised to hear Trip's voice. He tried to turn around, but only succeeded in turning the commander with him. He noticed they were bound back to back.

"Wha..whastat?" Trip said, and slowly opened his eyes. A second and a shriek later, informed Malcolm that the commander had also noticed their situation.

"Where are we?" Trip hissed, seemingly wide awake now. Malcolm sighed when he heard the stupid question.

"I wouldn't know commander, but what I do know is that I want to get away from here. The real question is, however, what are you doing here?"

There was a moment of silence behind him, before Trip answered. "Well, when ya didn' come back, we came lookin' for ya, of course."

"Of course..And you two got yourself captured." However, before Trip could point out that if Malcolm hadn't been captured that they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, another thought occurred by the armory officer.

"Where's Hoshi?" He said, trying to look over his shoulder but only succeeding in slowly spinning them around again. The question was followed by silence. When the commander finally decided to answer, there was panic in his voice.

"Ah don't know! Where's Hoshi, Malcolm? Where are we?" Judging by the sudden swinging of the chain-like rope Malcolm knew that Trip was trying to squirm out of his bounds. "What are we goin' to do?"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Malcolm said. He wanted to calm the commander down because the swinging had worsened his headache, and the wall now came uncomfortably close. He closed his eyes when he zoomed towards the wall again, certain that he would make contact with it. When there wasn't a 'splat' however, Malcolm opened them again and found that Trip had stopped swinging.

"Ah'm stuck." Was the only thing he said after a moment or two. Malcolm rolled his eyes.

"Well, you really are a genius aren't you." He said sarcastically. However, he felt that Trip hadn't stopped squirming with his hands. When the chief engineer didn't answer, he frowned.

"What are you doing?" He asked. When no answer came he again tried to look over his shoulder, with the same effect as before. This did get a reaction out of the commander.

"Please, Mal. Could ya just shut up and hang still for a while."

Malcolm raised his eyebrows. "I say -"

He was cut off by Trip, who pushed something in his hands, it seemed to be part of the mechanism that bound there hands. It reminded Malcolm of old fashioned handcuffs back on earth.

"Hold that, will ya?" Trip said, and Malcolm thought better to comply, suddenly noticing what he was trying to do. There were a few soft clicks as Trip tried to get the handcuffs off.

"There's a window on my side, about 3 meters higher than we are. If we get our hands lose, maybe one of us can climb up and take a look?" Malcolm said, studying the wall on his side of the room.

"No problem." Trip said, and there was a loud click. The handcuffs let go and Malcolm could feel the blood returning in his hands. For the tiniest of moments they just hung there. Then it all happened really fast.

Because Trip weighted a lot more than the small armory officer, he zoomed down, thus causing the rope to pull on Malcolm's legs, who zoomed up.

"AAARGH!" There were two identical screams of terror in the room.

"There went the window!" Malcolm said as he zoomed passed the small glass window in the middle of the wall. He wasn't stopping and now he _could_ see the ceiling.

"Triiiiiip, this is way too high! TOO HIGH!" He yelled as the ceiling came closer and closer.

"Maaaal, do somethin'!!" Trip yelled as he fell towards the floor. Malcolm suddenly noticed he still had the handcuffs in his hands. He now only hoped they were like the ones on the earth. He pulled himself up enough so that he could click it around his rope. It worked, and the next moment he clicked it around Trip's part of the rope, which was a lot longer than his now. The ropes stopped abruptly and the shock shuddered through them. Not a moment to early, too. The next moment was filled with heavy breathing as the two Starfleet officers tried to calm down.

"Okay, change of plan. We stay together." Malcolm said, as he slowly corrected there balance and climbed down, using the handcuffs as support, but making sure they never left the ropes. His hands still trembled from the sudden rush of adrenalin in his veins.

"Ah won't argue with that." Trip answered as he was slowly pulled back up.

* * *

Hoshi looked up, her black hair hung loosely in her face. She glared at the alien who stared at her expectantly. A small padd lay on the desk in front her. The room was cold and quite bright.

"Well?" The alien asked, tapping one of his long finger impatiently against his cheek.

"I don't know. I can't read it." She answered, almost hissing the words.

"She's lying." Squeaked the small green alien in the corner of the room behind her. He had, until now, gone unnoticed by the linguist. He stepped forward and looked at her. The small headache returned as Hoshi looked at him. She wanted to avert her eyes, but couldn't.

"The code is 4683. She knew it 10 minutes ago." He said and the other nodded. Hoshi gasped.

"Very good. Faster than I expected." The first one said. He looked at Hoshi, who wondered how they could possibly have known that.

"Luckily for you, this was just a test. But, Hoshi. I don't like it when you play dumb. You will translate or decode everything I put in front of you." He rammed the padd back down on the desk, causing the small Asian woman to look up in fright.

These aliens seemed to know a lot about her. Her name, her rank, her job on Enterprise. Enterprise... She squinted her eyes, willing to see how serious they were.

"And what if I don't?" She asked, causing the alien to raise his eyebrows, suddenly reminding her of T'pol.

"Then your friends will suffer the consequences, easy as that." He answered and Hoshi blinked.

_So__ Malcolm and Trip were still here, and alive! _This thought caused a wave of relief inside of her.

"Speaking of which, they shouldn't be left waiting...I have a little job for them, too." The alien continued and with that, he turned and left Hoshi alone at the desk. Who wondered how long Enterprise would take to find them. She didn't know what these aliens were up too, but whatever it was, she didn't want to be part of it.

**Please review!!**


	5. Admiration

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! eats cookies So, here's another chapter, had fun writing this. Enjoy! Reviews very welcome!**

"No, no! Move your foot!"

"Ah'm not the one squashing me!"

"If you don't move your foot, being squashed is the last thing you need to worry about!"

"Just...push off against me!"

"No! Bloody -HMPF-!"

"Are you okay, Mal?"

"No! I'm not freaking okay! I think you broke my nose."

"....sorry?"

A sigh, then: ".....On three."

"One-"

"Two-"

"Three!"

There were 2 identical thuds as both men pushed against the wall and tried to lean against each other. After they managed to get upright in the ropes, they had been trying to get into this position for the last 20 minutes. But now, finally, they seemed to have succeeded. There was a moment of silence, before one of the two spoke up.

"Well, about time." Malcolm said, frowning. He had half expected that Trip would be too late again, and he would have squished the engineer against the other wall.

"We're not there yet." Came the reply. "We still have to walk up." They had decided they still wanted to take a look through that window, and that was exactly what they were trying to do now.

"Right." Malcolm answered. He felt that Trip gripped the ropes a little tighter, too. He did the first step, and felt the balance change. Trip compensated by doing one step up himself. The balance restored itself. Another step followed and after a few seconds they were actually walking up the wall.

"Only one more meter." The Lieutenant said, he gritted his teeth as he pushed against Trip again to take the next step. It was a bit harder than he expected. The engineer acknowledged the message and followed suit.

When after a few more seconds, Malcolm didn't move again, Trip figured they must have reached the window.

"What do ya see?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"A lot of stuff. I think there's computers in there. A bunch of blankets, a display showing some kind of schematics and...-" A pause, before; "..Oh."

Malcolm stopped talking when he registered that the 'bunch of blankets' was actually one of the aliens, because it woke up when the door opened. Behind the door stood another alien. He stared directly at Malcolm, disbelief and confusion was written on it's face.

"Oh?" Trip repeated, not seeing what Malcolm saw. "Oh as in ;Oh, that's interesting. Or as in ;Oh...we're screwed?"

---

Second in command - Dack'o Sandi Manamua, or for everybody outside this building; just Dack, walked briskly through the corridors. A small smile played around his lips. The 'mission' was going well. He was satisfied with the abilities of their alien 'visitor'. The young linguist had found the code in no more than 5 minutes.

Of course he had known she was good, their little friend Ambol had told them. Still, Dack didn't trust him at all. The green squeaking little alien was being more than only annoying. Though he had said that he wouldn't try to 'read their minds' as Dack's friend, Sald had so easily put it. Dack still thought Ambol was hiding something.

When he had found out that the linguist had been lying, he hadn't been angry. He had been expecting it, though the woman couldn't possible have known about Ambol's unique...ability.

Dack wasn't a cruel man. _Well not particularly cruel._ He told himself. But he had to ensure that the woman would cooperate. Threatening like he did back in that room wasn't something he did everyday, but he hadn't been playing along. There _would_ be consequences.

He reached the door of the small observation room. They could monitor the other two aliens from there. He thought hanging them upside down in a room would prove a challenge for them. He was curious to find out how they would cope with the situation. He liked to think about it as another test of some sort. Maybe they had already woken, maybe not. Maybe they had already tried to figure out what was going on, or maybe they were just hanging there, unable to do anything.

He opened the door and stepped in. The first thing he noticed was the officer on duty, Ten'o woke up with a start. Before Dack could snap at him for falling asleep, however, he saw with a shock the smallest of the aliens staring directly at him through the glass. With his hands free, no less. Dack stared for a moment or two, unable to say something. He _had _expected an attempt to get free of some sort, but whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this.

The black haired man stared back at him, looking more alert than surprised to see them. He said something to his companion. Who, Dack now could see, was still on the other side of the rope. Dack recovered from the surprise and grinned.

_Interesting._ He thought and took a step towards the computers.

Ten'o had now also noticed the starfleet officers. He blinked, trying to decide what was scarier. That the aliens were more capable than they thought, or his superior officer grinning like that.

"How long did it take them to unlock their hands and get in this position?" Dack asked, staring at the officer on duty. He was much too intrigued by their alien friends to be angry at Ten'o. Sadly, Ten'o didn't seem to notice. The young man stuttered his answer.

"I..I don't know." He whispered.

"Because you were asleep." Dack said and glared at him for a second. "Just rewind the recordings, you idiot."

"Yes sir!" The young man said, and whirled around to do just that.

---

"Now what's he doin'?" Trip asked, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. Malcolm frowned while he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

"He's...grinning." The Brit answered, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the grin.

"Grinnin'?" Came the reply, and a groan followed. "We're doomed."

"Now they're talking..." Malcolm continued, ignoring his friend's prediction. The situation was beginning to be weirder by the minute. The two aliens were now ignoring them, totally absorbed in watching something on one of the displays. "They're looking at one of the computers."

"What? What are they watching?" Trip asked. Malcolm sighed. "I can't see." He answered.

"Let me take a look." Trip answered. Malcolm's eyes widened. "No! Wait! This is not-"

He stopped abruptly when a hard tug on his ropes told him what he had wanted to prevent.

"Oh shit!"

Trip had tried to turn around and had succeeded in losing his grip on the wall and fell down. Because they were still connected, Malcolm was hauled backwards. His first reflex was to try and stop himself from falling, and his hand shot out to the other side of the wall. He succeeded in stopping himself, but was now horizontally positioned across the room, his face towards the ceiling. Then Trip's weight pulled him down when the engineer was stopped because Malcolm had stopped moving. The Brit gritted his teeth as he tried to hold on with the extra weight now pulling on him.

"Hold on! Don't let go, Mal!" Trip yelled at the armory officer. They had fallen before, and it wasn't an experience either of them wanted to repeat.

"I'm trying!" Came the reply. For a moment he seemed to be succeeding, but then he was ever so slowly dragged down the wall. He hands were pulled down across the granular wall painfully, and for a moment he cursed the one who had designed it.

"Ah'm moving down, that's now a good sign, Mal!" Trip said, holding onto the ropes and looking down at the ground.

"I am aware, thank you!" Malcolm answered dryly, trying to change his position and gaining some grip on the walls.

--

"That's remarkable!" Dack said as he watched the video images were Trip had just succeeded in opening their handcuffs. Then both aliens flinched slightly when they saw the Starfleet officers being pulled in different directions. Soon enough it only resulted in another admirable nod from the second in command when on the screen Malcolm stopped them from smashing against the floor or ceiling.

"Well, well. I think we need to have a chat with our visitors." He stated and looked up with a grin. The grin vanished however, when he looked through the window.

"Where have they gone?" He asked, puzzled when he no longer saw the Starfleet officers outside the window. Had he continued to watch the images that were now on the screen, he would have seen the situation Trip and Malcolm had gotten themselves into, just below the view of the window.


End file.
